This is a collection of some of my creative moments, encaustic art, acrylic, water colour, photographs etc, I will add more as and when I get time, or I do something I like. Please click on the thumbnails to view a higher resolution version. (Will open in a new window or tab).

You will find on here one of my paintings called ‘Looking On’ which I entered into the local Echo modern art competition, which was held following the uproar over the City Council's decision to spend £250,000 of public money on buying a controversial work for the city by modern artist Bridget Riley.

The Echo launched its ‘Can you do Better?’, modern art competition and on Tuesday 24th October, I received a phone call to say I had won their competition and my prize was two tickets to London, lunch and a visit to the slides exhibition at the Tate Modern.

Below is the article I wrote for the Echo following the reporters many questions, this I might add is not what was printed

I was very surprised and excited to receive the call, saying I had won the Echo art competition. I rang my mum but she was out, my partner, my aunty Glen and my sister-in-law were all busy, but my friend Helen was in the middle of a supermarket when I rang her but was very pleased for me, I think she was almost as excited as I was, she is lucky they didn't throw her out of the shop. I have never entered an art competition before but my partner said that he thought my paintings were better than the one the council spent £250,000 on, so I thought I would enter one, and I am glad I did.

£250,000 is so much money to spend on one painting, I guess it makes me feel very sad that as a nation we are happy to spend millions on art, weapons, security, daft laws etc and yet there are so many people right here on our doorsteps starving, in terrible accommodation or indeed homeless, many people are not receiving the health care they need, pensioners are forced to march in protest to try to receive enough money to pay their bills and feed themselves, thousands of charities providing valuable services on inadequate or no funding from central or local government, the list is endless. In the big scheme of things it could be said that £250,000 wouldn't have gone very far to aid any of these situations, but locally we have many charities in need of financial assistance. I have been a volunteer for Mind for just over 13 years, many years at Eastleigh and since the merger with Southampton Mind, I have been a volunteer with what is now Solent Mind, a local mental health charity.

If Southampton council had wanted to invest in some modern art, it could have come to us, or any number of the wonderfully talented groups around the local area, in the groups I help run, I can think of many brilliantly artistic people, I am sure that for a donation of £250,000 to our unfunded project 'Making a Scene' we could have held an exhibition of peoples art and the gallery could have chosen some pieces for their collection.

I love art in fact all forms of creative expression not just paintings, but I love my fellow human beings, the animal kingdom and our earth itself far more, we should start looking at what is truly important in this world and focus less on the material, which is what my painting is all about, it is looking on with a tear in its eye but with hope in its heart for the future of mankind and the earth we have been entrusted to look after.

There are many amazing works of art in galleries around the world, but you can find some wonderful unknown artists and their work online, my friend Stan has a great site: www.art-sx.co.uk and there are many like his if you take the time to look.

I would of course like to thank the Echo for my prize of two tickets to go to the Tate Modern, I am sure it will be a fantastic experience, not quite matching the council's £250,000 but brilliant all the same.

I have never tried to sell any of my artwork but would I turn down £250,000 for one of my paintings, no of course not, would anyone? But hopefully the purchaser would be from a private company or individual rather than a government body,

and what would I do with the money:-

Buy an electric wheelchair (to enable me to do the things I used to enjoy, like going to the New Forest, which I have not been able to enjoy for many years or at least only sat in the car)

Buy a car that is easier for me to drive and get in and out of

Pay off my debts

Purchase some much needed equipment for 'Making a Scene'

Publish my book of poetry, which of course would be illustrated by my own artwork.

And do something nice for my partner, my family and friends, for without their love, support and assistance my life would be very different.